Inside Health

WORLD BUSINESS BRIEFING | EUROPE; BRITAIN: ASTRAZENECA TO CLOSE PLANTS

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: November 21, 2008

AstraZeneca said it would close three plants in Spain, Belgium and Sweden and cut 1,400 jobs in Europe by 2013. It also agreed to sell its over-the-counter medicine producer AZ Tika to GlaxoSmithKline for £146 million ($216 million) in cash. AstraZeneca, based in London, has 67,000 employees worldwide. AstraZeneca was also granted a temporary restraining order by the United States District Court in New Jersey, which halts the supply and distribution of a generic drug by Teva Pharmaceuticals. Teva had gone ahead with the first shipment of a generic version of Pulmicort Respules, an AstraZeneca medication for children's asthma.